Regional
usage

: : : I always thought
y'all (meaning you all) was plural. However, during a trip down to South Carolina
to purchase a sailplane several years ago, I heard a resident address a group
of people as "All y'all". Recently, I checked the web and "All y'all" shows up
in multiple documents including an article in "The Onion". Y'all, apparently,
is now singular, meaning you in particular. Do all y'all have any other examples
of a phrase changing form or a formal name for the transformation? Also, how long
has "all y'all" been in common usage?

: : I love "The Onion," but I wouldn't
count on it as an authority on language.

: : y'all; you-all - pronoun. "Means
'all of you.' It is used in speaking to two or more people, never to just one
person except by DAMNYANKEES TRYING TO BE CUTE (emphasis mine), or who don't know
any better. Besides, 'you all' is sanctioned by biblical use (Job 17:10). Grammatically
speaking, 'ya'll' is known as the 'generous plural'' so is Yankee 'youse,' rural
and mountain 'you-uns,' and the interesting 'mongst-ye,' which used to be heard
in coastal North Carolina and Virginia." From "Southern Stuff: Down-home Talk
and Bodacious Lore from Deep in the Heart of Dixie" by Mildred Jordan Brooks (Avon
Books, New York, 1992).

: You have the yankee part right, but I'm a little
young for damnation or remembrances of the War of Northern Aggression. If you
have personal anecdotes of either, I'm eager to hear them.

: Also, I plead
innocent to both cuteness and ignorance. Just the messenger here. While in Spartanburg,
SC, I was addressed personally as y'all and all y'all when in a group. Can't get
much more south then SC, but I also heard all y'all last December in Mobile, New
Orleans, Houma and all the way up the river through the bootheel. Y'all had dropped
out of general usage by St. Louis, though everyone still persisted in calling
pop soda.

: Thanks for the definition of generous plural. By the way, what
do you put on your grits? I heard Miracle Whip mixed with filé (fee-lay) powder
is popular, but I haven't had the nerve to try it.